An animated series with a cult following is Batman: The Brave And The Bold. It frequently has incredible episodes with genuinely excellent storytelling, which solidifies its quality beyond the label of cult classic.
Additionally, it is not hesitant to take risks by developing intricate storylines that involve several universes or considerable time travel. In fact, in one Season 3 episode, we get to see four different versions of Batman, including ones from the distant future, the 18th century, Ancient Rome, and the ancient age.
This would not be the first time the show has introduced multiple Batmen at once; after introducing Batman’s villainous archrival Owlman in Season 1, the next episode saw a different Batman bringing back a number of Batmen from other universes to battle Owlman. However, rather than discussing Batmen from various timelines, we will discuss them in the episode we will be discussing today.
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Origins Of The Batmen In Batman: The Brave And The Bold
The third season of Batman: The Brave And The Bold brought out several Batman from different eras into the storyline for their episode ‘Time Out For Vengeance’.
It is a regular day in Gotham City, which means that Batman is busy fighting crime, as usual. A villain named Catman goes on a robbery rampage and The Caped Crusader arrives to stop him. But before he can seal the deal, Batman somehow disappears.
The scene shifts to the Justice League International who are aboard their satellite. Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Guy Gardner (a.k.a. the Green Lantern), and Ice are going about their day when J’onn J’onzz or the Martian Manhunter arrives. He is soon followed by Fire and Aquaman, who bring Time Master Rip Hunter to the party.
Hunter reveals to them that Batman has been erased from the space time continuum. A group of assassins are apparently travelling through history and eliminating the Batmen from several eras. He continues, saying “Thus creating a ripple effect through the timeline. With his ancestors gone, the events that created our Batman never happened. The longer we wait, the greater the chance that all memory of Batman will vanish from our minds, forever.”
In Grant Morrison’s ‘The Return Of Bruce Wayne” storyline, it is discussed that several members of the Wayne family have often created the alter ego of Batman. This is referenced for the Time Out For Vengeance episode as Rip Hunter explains Batman being erased from existence since his ancestors are now being killed. Which means that this is not a world where the identity of Batman is exclusive to Bruce Wayne only. Instead, it has been adopted by the Waynes across history. And with his ancestors dead, Bruce Wayne’s Batman will never come to exist.
With Batman to save and the League running out of time, they immediately set out to save Bruce Wayne’s ancestors in different eras and in groups of twos. While Guy Gardner and Ice go to a fictional primeval era where the early men, mammoths, and dinosaurs existed at the same time, Aquaman and Fire go to Ancient Rome and Blue Beetle and Booster Gold find themselves in the 18th Century ocean with a Pirate Batman.
So let’s start with Guy Gardner and Ice’s adventure. After being dropped off by Hunter in the primeval era, they are soon attacked by a dinosaur. However, they are also saved by Cave Batman, who is probably the first Batman ever (unless you can envision the first fishes ever wearing Batmasks). This Batman arrives with a club as his weapon and a mammoth or a mastodon as his ride instead of the Batmobile. His upper body barely has clothes and whatever he has makes up the cape and the Bat symbol. His mask also sports some tusks that add an egde to the costume. Cave Batman takes Guy Gardner and Ice to his hideout: the Bat Tree (since back in the day, caves were like your average homes and not ideal for a hideout).
In the hideout, Cave Batman acknowledges how strong Ice seems to be and asks her to be his mate (because that’s how the people of the past picked their partners). Soon, a robot assassin arrives in that era via a portal and tries to kill Cave Batman. With Ice and Guy Gardner present, the assassin is unable to kill Cave Batman. While Guy holds him off and eventually destroys him, Ice rescues Batman out of the Bat Tree as it had taken severe damage from the fight and was about to collapse.
Guy carries a sample of the android robot’s now-broken body and Ice teleports herself and him away from the era.
There’s also Booster Gold and Blue Beetle who are dropped off into the ocean by Rip Hunter. They are taken aboard for trespassing by a ship crew with Pirate Batman acting as Captain. This Batman reveals that he upholds justice as the sea devil by striking fear in the hearts of evil to keep the seas safe – much like the Batman we know and love. Which means, he actually fights pirates instead of being one. He carries a neat sword and has a long beard. He also speaks in a stereotypical pirate accent and is more happy-go-lucky compared to the present day Batman.
Soon, an android assassin appears in front of this Batman. It attacks the ship, as a result of which, a sea monster appears to the water’s surface thanks to the disturbances caused by the android’s beam attack.
Batman and Blue Beetle fight the monster while Booster Gold destroys the android. Batman is impressed by the duo’s fighting skills and offers them to be permanent members in his crew. But of course, they cannot do that and head back to their time.
Finally, there is Fire and Aquaman who reach Ancient Rome. Aquaman poses as Neptune the God of the Seas for a second while craving a fight with Romans. However, they are soon attacked by guards who realize that they are from a different place. Before Aquaman can fight back, Fire warns him that they must play along to find Batman.
With the two heroes caged and being transported, Batmanicus (which is the gladiator version of Batman) appears to the scene, riding his horse to save them. His duty in this era is to fight slavery in Rome. As a result, he carried his spear and shield and rides a chariot to fight the Roman slavers.
Batmanicus slashes the rods of the cage that holds Aquaman and Fire, freeing them. Aquaman also gets his golden chance of fighting the Romans and together they defeat the Roman soldiers. But suddenly, an android appears to kill Batmanicus. After it animates a huge metal statue to kill Batmanicus, Aquaman brings the statue down on the android, thus destroying it. Following this, the duo teleport away after exchanging a word or two with this Batman.
However, their troubles are far from over since the original Batman’s presence has still not been restored. As Hunter informs the League about it, it is revealed that everyone except Hunter and J’onn J’onzz have forgotten about Batman. And yet, they still go ahead with the mission because that is what heroes do.
The piece of the android that Guy Gardner had brought is soon analyzed. Turns out, it is from the far future, which means they have to save a Batman who is in trouble in the future. Failure to do so will cause a real problem since his death will start a chain reaction that eliminates every other Batman ever.
At first, the others are confused since the future should not change the past. But once again, Time Master Rip Hunter explains everything clearly. He says, “Time isn’t linear. It’s simultaneous. Events in the future create the present as much as events in the past do.”
Hunter uses the energy signature of the fragment and locates its origin in the future, which is where the League then travels to. They enter a chamber in a building where the face of Equinox (who is the overarching antagonist of this series) has been projected inside a monitor. He also reveals a captive Robot Batman in agony who tries to speak out in his robotic voice but is subdued by the torture he is being subjected to.
Equinox was originally the keeper of the cosmic balance but he soon chose to remake the universe. Batman foiled his plans and shattered his consciousness and mind into twelve fragments. These fragments were scattered across time. The one that had found itself in the future (that is the Equinox who the League was up against) was his hatred. This fragment integrated itself across the computer network of the future to put his plan of revenge against Batman into action, mainly by creating his Revenge Squad of androids. Which means that he just had to defeat Robot Batman now, even though the League had saved some of the older ones.
The League members try to stop him but are soon overwhelmed by the several androids standing against them. This prompts Robot Batman to break free and fight. But Equinox does not back down either. He merges the androids into one big bad android and transfers his consciousness to the device to fight Batman himself.
Batman soons fires a Batarang to the time portal that allowed the androids to time travel. This brings back the three Batmen the League had saved and with their help, Robot Batman destroys this fragment of Equinox. Soon, Martian Manhunter and Rip Hunter arrive to this period with Batman, who is finally back. The Caped Crusader thanks his counterparts, mainly Robot Batman, for preserving the space time continuum.
No matter which time period we got to see Batman in, certain things about him remained constant – his fight for justice, his affinity for a cool ride (or whatever was considered to be the coolest for that time period), a nice outfit, and his heroism. Of course, Batman’s name being Batmanicus in Ancient Rome takes the cake for being the star moment of the show.
And with that, today’s video comes to an end. What did you think of the different types of Batmen? Did you enjoy this video? If yes, then don’t forget to like and comment on this video. Till then, goodbye. And have a nice one!